Rail joint tread bridge and rail end



Nov. 1, 1955 w, N R 2,722,384

RAIL JOINT TREAD BRIDGE AND RAIL END CONSTRUCTION Filed June 11, 1951 Jim H J I:

HTTo'EME/ United States Patent ()fiice Patented Nov. 1,1955

RAIL JOINT TREAD BRIDGE AND RAIL END CONSTRUCTION William G. Buhrer, Wichita, Kans.

Application June .11, 1951, Serial No. 231,023

1 Claim. (Cl. 238-218) The present invention relates to a novel rail joint tread bridge and rail construction and is an improvement over the construction shown and described in Patent No. 2,410,199.

As is well known in the art, one of the principal dlfllculties in track maintenance is the prevention of so-called low joints between rail ends of the track. The requirement of spacing adjacent ends of the rails to provide expansion space necessarily results in the downward deflection of rail ends at the joint, gradually weakening the rails at the adjacent ends and, in many cases, causing broken joints. Furthermore, the constant downward deflection of the rails at the ends causes tamping down of the road bed beneath the supporting ties at the joints, causing pockets in which Water accumulates.

It is a primary object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a rail joint that tends to obviate or overcome these defects; first, by providing the matching end faces of the rails with complementary angular cuts so that the weight of the railroad equipment passing over the joints is distributed, and second, to provide for bridging the joints in such a manner that part of the weight of the railroad equipment is carried by a member fastened across the joint at the ends of the rails.

Another object is to provide an end construction for the rails which will prevent lateral movement between them when the rails expand upon increase in temperature.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown.

In one form, the invention comprises opposed rail ends, each of which includes a tread portion and a base portion. The end faces of the tread portions are formed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the rails, and the end faces of the base portions are formed substantially normal to said axis. The distances between the end faces are such that when the rails expand upon an increase in temperature, the faces of the base portions will contact at the same time as the faces of the tread portions contact, or preferably slightly before they would contact. A rail joint bridge is provided which includes an outer member which extends parallel with the outer rail surfaces and across the joint between the opposed end faces. The outer member contains a convex-shaped top surface with a central section extending above the crown of the rail ends at the joint. Preferably, the highest portion of the central section is on a transversely extending line passing through the inner end of the joint between the faces of the tread portions. Means are provided for clamping the rail joint bridge to the rail ends including means providing limited relative axial movement between the rail ends and the rail joint bridge.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a rail joint tread bridge and rails, constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, certain of the structure being indicated in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the rail joint tread bridge and the ends of the rails;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. -4 is a side elevational view of the end of one of the rails showing the oblique tread portion.

Referring to the drawing more particularly by reference numerals, 10 indicates generally a rail joint tread bridge fastened to the ends of rails 12, both the bridge 10 and the ends of the rails 12 being formed according to the teachings of the present invention.

The rails 12 are of standard cross-sectional shape and include a base portion 14 and a tread portion 16, connected together by a web portion 18.

The crown of the tread portion 16 is rounded at its lateral edges and conforms to the tread face 19 of a car wheel 20 of standard construction, the car wheel including an inner side flange 22. The surface of the car wheel between the face 19 and the flange 22 is curved as at 24. The tread face 19, as is usual in railway car wheels, has a predetermined curvature which tapers to the outer face of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 3.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 4, the ends of the tread portions 16 of the rails '12 are formed with complementary angular faces 26, and the ends of the base and web portions are formed with faces 28 and 30, respectively, which are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rail. The faces 26, 28 and 30 are so formed that when the rails 12 are laid end to end, the axial distance between the opposed faces 26 will be no less than the distance between the opposed faces 28 and between the opposed faces 30, and preferably slightly greater than this distance. Thus, when the rails 12 which are laid end to end expand upon increase in temperature, the opposed faces 28 and the opposed faces 30 will contact at the same time that the opposed faces 26 contact, or before the faces 26 can contact, so that the only force acting on the ends of the rails will be in the axial direction. It is to be understood that the opposed faces 30 of the web portions 18 can be formed on an oblique angle in the same manner as the faces 26, just so long as there are provided opposed faces at the ends of the rails which are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rails and which meet upon expansion of the rails before the angular formed faces meet, or at the same time that they meet.

As shown in Fig. 4, oval-shaped, spaced openings 32 are contained in the web portion 18 and have their major axis in the horizontal direction to permit relative axial movement between the rails 12, as will appear.

Opposed rectangular shaped notches 34 are provided in the ends 'of the web portions 18 to receive a rectangular shaped key 36. The key 36 is of the same thickness as the web portion 18 and, when "the rails 12 are laid end to end, ties them together so as to aid in preventing relative vertical movement between them. The key '36 is preferably shaped to fit tightly in one of the notches 34 'but should have a sliding fit in the other notch so as to permit relative axial movement between the ends of the rails when they expand or contract due to changes in temperature.

The bridge 10 includes an inner member 38 and an outer member 40. The inner member 38 contains a top flange portion 42 and a bottom flange portion 44 connected together by a vertical body portion 46. The upper face of the top flange portion 42 is shaped to fit against the bottom surface of the tread portion 16, and the lower face of the bottom flange portion 44 is shaped to conform with the upper face of the base portion 14. The vertical body portion 46 contains spaced circular openings 43 in alignment with the openings 32.

The outer member 40 includes a bottom portion 50 which is shaped to fit adjacent to the web portions 18 of the rails between the base portions 15 and the tread portions 16, and has a horizontal bottom face 52 and an inclined upper face 54. The upper face 54 is inclined downwardly and inwardly and is shaped complementary with the lower face of the tread portion 16. The bottom portion 50 contains spaced openings 56 adjacent its center which are in alignment with the openings 32 and 48. The openings 56 are of oval shape with the major axis extending in the vertical direction to permit vertical adjustment of the outer member 40 relative to the rails 12.

An upper portion 58 is formed integral with the bottom portion 50 and extends upwardly and outwardly from the upper end thereof. The upper portion 58 contains a top surface 60 which is convex shaped in the axial direction (Fig. 2), and which curves downwardly and inwardly in the transverse direction (Fig. 3). The highest part of the top surface is identified by the numeral 61 (Fig. 2).

Bolts 62 extend through the aligned openings 56, 32 and 48 so as to hold the inner member 38 and the outer member 40 against the rails 12.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the top surface 60 of the upper portion 58 at its high point is elevated above the curve of the rail, and that because of the curvature of the surface 60, it is substantially in the same plane as the crown of the rails at each end thereof. Thus, if the car wheel passes over the joint, it is supported near its outer face entirely by the upper surface 60 of the outer member 40 of the joint and carries a major portion of the load. The remainder of the load, particularly on curved sections of tracks, rides on the radius 24 of the inner flange of the wheel which rides against the inner curved portion of the tread portion 16 of the rail. The bridge is positioned relative to the ends of the rails so that the inner edge of the expansion joint between the opposed faces 26 is in line with the center and high point of the outer member 40. Thus, the load will be carried across the inner end of the expansion joint by the upper face of the outer member 40 at its highest elevation.

Means are provided for adjusting the elevation of the top surface 60 of the outer member 40 relative to the top of the rails 12 so that the upper tread surface thereof will be accurately elevated in respect to the tread portion of the rail in order to properly carry the load over the expansion space between the ends of the rails. This is accomplished by providing wedge blocks 64, each of which have a horizontal upper face 66 and an inclined lower face 68. A plurality of these wedge blocks 64 are inserted beneath the face 52 of the outer member 40 so as to adjust it vertically with respect to the base portion 14 of the rail. In this manner, the elevation of the top surface 60 of the outer member 40 can be adjusted to the proper height regardless of the difference in radii of the curved track construction. The oval shaped openings 56 having their major axis in the vertical direction permits the raising and lowering of the outer member 40.

After the wedge blocks 64 have been positioned to obtain the required elevation, they may be welded in place so as to provide a permanent support for the outer member 40. This construction relieves the vertical strain on the bolts 62.

In order to obtain a wedging action and a rigid support for the outer member 40 and because it is necessary to change the relative position of the inclined face 54 in respect to the under face of the rail tread portion for different adjustments of the outer member 40, it is preferred that shims 70 be inserted between the face 54 and the under face of the tread portion of the rail where spacing occurs, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided a novel rail joint tread bridge and rail end construction which fulfills all of the objects and advantages sought therefor.

The tread bridge effectively relieves excessive downward movement of adjacent ends of the rails by bridging the joint so that a substantial portion of the load is distributed along the ends of the rails.

The shape of the openings 32 in the web portion 18 permits relative axial movement between the ends of the rails 12 upon changes in temperature. If desired, the openings 32 in one rail could be of circular shape and the bridge 10 fastened rigidly to said rail so as not to have axial movement relative thereto. This would permit relative movement between the ends of the rails by permitting relative axial movement between the bridge 10 and the other rail.

Because the opposed faces 30 of the web portion and the opposed faces 28 of the base portion, both of which are formed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rails, will meet before the angularly disposed faces 26 can meet, the only force acting on the ends of the rails 12 will be in the axial direction. Thus, the only stress on the bolts 62 in the axial direction will be that caused by the weight of a car Wheel bearing on the surface 60. Also, because the wedge blocks 64 transmit the weight of the car wheels directly to the base portion 14 of the rails, there are no forces tending to shear the bolts 62.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing have been given only by way of illustration and example, and that changes and alterations in the present disclosure, which will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention which is limited only by the claim which follows.

What is claimed is:

In combination, two opposed rail ends each including a tread portion, a base portion, and a web portion interconnecting the tread and base portions; the end faces of the tread portions being fiat and formed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the rails and the end faces of the web and base portions being fiat and formed with the entire base and web substantially normal to said axis, the end faces of the base and web projecting beyond the center of the tread face so that upon expansion of the rails, the faces of the tread portions will not contact before the faces of the base and web portions; opposed recesses in the sides and faces of the web portions; a key separable from both of said recesses disposed in the recesses so as to tie the rail ends together and prevent relative vertical movement between them, said key being separable from the sides and faces of the web portions; a rail joint bridge including an outer member extending parallel with the outer rail surfaces and across the opposed end faces, the outer member having a convex shaped top surface with a central section which extends above the crown of the rail ends at the joint; and means clamping the rail joint bridge to the rail ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 359,521 Storrs Mar. 15, 1887 917,153 Ritchie et al Apr. 6, 1909 1,055,253 Benzel Mar. 4, 1913 1,674,622 Kunicke June 19, 1928 2,410,199 Buhrer Oct. 29, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,235 Great Britain Apr. 2, 1896 

